Sheppard's Sunday
by Pocus
Summary: A day of rest for everyone.  What if Sheppard was in the hallway when the explosion went off?


This was written for Challenge 19 on the Sheppard Whump thread on GW. The challenge was to rewrite a whump scene for someone and make it for Sheppard instead.

Length 1308 words

Beta: all mistakes are because I was in a hurry. Sorry.

Disclaimers: Not my characters or city. Wish it was.

"You Ok?' grinned Ronon. He and John Sheppard strolled through the halls of Atlantis, heading towards the cafeteria, both men still perspiring from the workout they had just been through.

"I'm fine," Sheppard muttered, using the towel hanging around his neck to wipe away another drip of blood from his eyebrow. "Next time I won't zig instead of zag," he quipped.

Turning a corner, the two friends came upon Teyla and Dr. Hewiston coming down the stairs, deep in conversation. The dark haired young scientist was grinning at the Athosian. Teyla, for her part, was looking uncharacteristically flustered. They were dressed in workout clothes and looked as if they had just finished a sparring session.

"Good morning Ladies," smiled Sheppard with a nod of his head. "Enjoying your day of rest?"

Stopping at the bottom of the stairs, the two women exchanged a look that may have looked slightly guilty to an observer. Taking a deep breath and holding her chin up, Teyla responded, "We are having a good day." With a smile, she motioned to the woman beside her. "We have been working on Dr. Hewiston's upper crossover." The scientist smiled shyly at the men, eyes shifting between them.

Teyla looked around at all the people walking around in civilian clothes. "Do you remember the last time so many people had the day off?"

Dr. Hewiston shifted her bantos rods in the bag on her shoulder. "Yeah, it's all Heightmeyer's doing. She insisted that the brass order some sort of mandatory rest day. I guess downtime here doesn't really happen organically.

"My people have a day of rest every four nights," Teyla mused.

"Lucky people," commented Sheppard. "We're lucky to get a minute's rest every four months."

"We didn't do rest days," added Ronon. "You just grabbed some time off when you could."

The four stood, shifting feet uncomfortably for a minute, not sure what to do next.

"Anyone up for a late lunch?" asked the scientist.

Sheppard looked down at himself. "Ah, not really." Pulling the towel from around his neck, he continued, "I was heading for a bottle of water then a shower. Don't think you would want to try to eat around me right now." He grinned at her sheepishly.

Teyla took a closer look at her Team Leader's forehead. "I see that Ronon has left his mark again. I believe a trip to the infirmary should happen before you shower." She gave him a stern, mothering look then turned to her friend. "Can I meet you for lunch in a little while? I would like to make sure he makes it to see Dr. Cole."

With a smile, the young scientist nodded. "I'll see you later then." She turned to go, nodding at the men. "Nice to have met you," she waved to them as she headed to the mess hall.

"Teyla," began John.

Holding her hand up, her look said she wasn't going to take no for answer. Ronon crossed his arms and settled in for the argument he knew was coming.

Just as Teyla, eyebrows raised, opens her mouth to to speak, a loud explosion came from behind them, the blast wave knocking them all to the ground as a fireball engulfs the corridor. People begin screaming as smoke fills the hallway.

Alarms are blaring as Teyla groggily lifts her head from the floor, a large gash on her forehead. The first thing she sees is Ronon lying on his side at the base of the stairs. Coughing from the smoke, she crawls towards him to check on his condition. He is just coming to as she touches his shoulder. "Ronon, are you hurt?" she chokes out.

Coughing he tries to sit up. "I don't think so," he slurs, blinking his eyes. "You're hurt," he states as he sees the blood running down the side of her face.

"I will be fine," she insists, turning to look down the hall to where the blast had come from. A small gasp escapes her lips as she sees a burning pile that appears to be a person.

"JOHN!" she calls. "John, where are you?" She climbs unsteadily to her feet and takes a few steps towards the flames. Before she can go far, she stumbles over something lying in her way. Looking down, she sees her friend on the floor in front of her, unconscious. Sighing with relief, she drops to her knees. "John are you alright?" She touches his shoulder and leans over him. She turns pale at what she sees. A large piece of metal is buried in his side.

Sheppard starts to groan and stir. Ronon drops down beside him, laying a hand on his shoulder. "Hey Buddy, don't move. You got a little problem."

"Problem?" Sheppard moans weakly. "You can say that again." His eyes slowly blink open and try, unsuccessfully, to focus on his surroundings. "What happened?"

"We do not know yet," Teyla tells him, looking around frantically for help. People are staggering from the direction of the Mess Hall, while others with firefighting equipment are running towards it.

Ronon looks at her over Sheppard's prone form. "You stay with him. I'll go see what happened." He sprints away in the direction of the trouble.

Pain is clearly written on Sheppard's face as she looks down at him. "Hold on John. Medics will be here soon." She glances over at the smoldering remains near them and offers a pray to the Ancients for the loss of life.

"Teyla," Sheppard reaches up to her, "you're hurt."

"Not as badly as you," she states, gently pushing his arm back down to his side.

"Not a contest," he whispers as his eyes close and he loses consciousness.

oOoOoOoOo

As Teyla walks into the infirmary she sees her Team Leader struggling to get out of his bed. "John, what are you doing?" she says as she rushes forward to catch him.

"I'm going to the Memorial Service," he says through gritted teeth, trying to straighten up.

Holding onto his arm, Teyla shakes her head sadly. "I do not think that is such a good idea. You can barely stand."

"I can stand just fine," he growled at her. "I'm going!" He turned towards Teyla and looked her right in the eyes. "He was my friend. I should have done something."

"John what could you have done? You were hurt?" She rubbed his arm as she watched him struggle through the pain. "He would want you to take care of yourself and take time to heal."

With a heavy sigh, John hung his head. "I could've done something." Teyla had to lean in to hear his next words as he whispered, "I could've gone fishing with him." He looked back up and the pain in his eyes made Teyla's heart skip a beat. "It was all he wanted. He just wanted to go fishing."

oOoOoOoOo

The Gateroom is overflowing with people who have come to say Goodbye to the friends they have lost. The last coffin in the room is draped with the Scottish Flag and, for most people, is the hardest one to watch.

John, in his dress blues, stands next to Teyla and listens to Elizabeth tell them what a good man they have lost. Her words are a comfort, of a sort. They all know how much Carson will be missed, as a Doctor and as a Friend.

Elizabeth steps down and heads towards John. Their eyes meet briefly, as if each is afraid to look too long on the pain of the other. Bagpipes begin to play as the 'Gate activates. Ronon and Rodney, Lorne and Cole, Radek and Chuck all lift their friend and head him towards home.

As the 'Gate shuts down, Teyla and John stand and watch the empty space, each lost in their own thoughts.


End file.
